Panera Exec: Secret-Menu Items Do Customers A Service

"We don't want to overburden our digital menu boards by putting
everything on there because simplicity and ease of ordering is
probably the most important thing in this business," said Chris
Ponzio, director of marketing at BurgerFi, a Florida-based
all-natural burger chain. "People do not like to stand in line
and say, 'Oh, my God, I'm overwhelmed.'"

The secret of BurgerFi's hidden menu has been intentionally
spilled since its first store opened in 2011. The company even
features the off-menu items on its in-store menu handouts—but
not on the big board itself.

Some of the items began as a way to simplify the complicated
ordering process with picky customers. Steve Lieber, the
company's brand ambassador and franchise sales director,
recalled the origins of the Hippie Veggie, a sandwich first
created by a frequent diner in Florida.

"He wanted instead of one vegetable patty, he wanted two,"
Lieber said. "He didn't want them fried—he wanted them grilled.
He didn't like the wheat bun—he wanted a regular bun. He didn't
like the lettuce, tomato secret sauce. He liked green neon
relish."

The not-so-secret menu was first pioneered on a large scale by
fast-food chain In-N-Out. Carl Van Fleet,
the company's vice president of planning and development, said
the company doesn't see itself as having a "secret menu" at all
but rather just a willingness to fulfill orders just the way
the customer wants it. Several items from its not-so-secret
menu, including the 4x4, a cheeseburger with four beef patties
and four cheese slices, have inspired fervent followings.

"Over the years, many of those variations were given names,
usually by the customers who frequently ordered their burger
that way," Van Fleet said. "We never set out to create or
pioneer a 'secret menu,' some of the names for those variations
just stuck."

Other restaurants, such as Panera, use the menus to cater to
diners following a specific diet, such as a low-carbohydrate or
low-gluten one.

"Panera didn't want to take up valuable menu board space with
items that only had limited appeal, but they did want customers
seeking low-carb items to know that they were available," said
Bret Thorn, senior food editor at Nation's Restaurants News, a
trade publication.

Chris Hollander, Panera's vice president of marketing, said
offering "off-menu" items is a way to serve the needs of niche
groups, while also keeping its in-store messaging streamlined
and consistent.

"By keeping this menu 'hidden,' we can speak to this audience
without investing in the infrastructure needed to promote these
items within our walls," he said.

The program was also a way to reward its loyalty program
members and social media followers, who were the first to learn
of the new items.

"We are constantly looking for new and innovative rewards —
beyond free menu items — in order to build deeper relationships
with our MyPanera membership," he added.

These menus also give consumers a sense of insider knowledge
and another way to experience a restaurant after they've
already tested out the main menu, said Sam Oches, the editor of
QSR Magazine, a separate trade publication.

"Customers just really enjoy being able to go somewhere and to
feel like they're on the inside, like they're in the know,"
Oches said.

That insider feeling often spurs customers to share their
orders via social media, leading some to spread virally.

"Secret menus have been around for decades in some places, like
In-N-Out," Thorn said. "And Starbucks has offered things like short
cappuccinos probably since the chain opened. But social media
has really made them catch on."

And as these items proliferate, restaurateurs have an added
incentive for keeping these items hidden. Many of the secret
items are made by combining multiple menu items. Take McDonald's
Mc10:35, it combines a McDouble and an Egg McMuffin.

But sometimes these duos, can pack quite the waistline punch.
By keeping these items off menu, their calorie counts stay out
of sight as well—good news for fans of the quesarito, or a
cheese quesadilla wrapped around a burrito, which can set
customers back more than 1,0000 calories.

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